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A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
The Eleventh Plague by John S. Marr
3.0
‘He doubted that anyone would ever figure out the Grand Design.’
This novel begins with a series of apparently unrelated events. A swarm of bees attacks a number of people in San Antonio. A number of people die as a consequence. The young son of a wealthy developer is critically ill in San Diego, California. His symptoms do not match any common illness and Dr Jack Bryne, a noted virologist, is called in to consult. A young woman is brought to the same hospital with similar symptoms and within 24 hours they are both dead: of anthrax. Within hours, thoroughbred horses in Kentucky are dying of a virus that cannot be identified.
What do these events have in common? It occurs to Jack Bryne that these deaths bear similarities to some of the plagues described in Exodus. Unfortunately for Dr Byrne, he is a risk of being either a victim or a suspect.
This novel was published in 1998. Reading it in 2010 is a reminder (if one is needed) of the threat of bioterrorism. I became caught up in the science of this novel without ever really being swept up by the story.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This novel begins with a series of apparently unrelated events. A swarm of bees attacks a number of people in San Antonio. A number of people die as a consequence. The young son of a wealthy developer is critically ill in San Diego, California. His symptoms do not match any common illness and Dr Jack Bryne, a noted virologist, is called in to consult. A young woman is brought to the same hospital with similar symptoms and within 24 hours they are both dead: of anthrax. Within hours, thoroughbred horses in Kentucky are dying of a virus that cannot be identified.
What do these events have in common? It occurs to Jack Bryne that these deaths bear similarities to some of the plagues described in Exodus. Unfortunately for Dr Byrne, he is a risk of being either a victim or a suspect.
This novel was published in 1998. Reading it in 2010 is a reminder (if one is needed) of the threat of bioterrorism. I became caught up in the science of this novel without ever really being swept up by the story.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith